Box crusher and paper shredder



Feb. 23, 1965 J. v. 'HAIDLER 3,170,642

BOX 'CRUSHER AND PAPER SHREDDER Filed Sept. 26. 1961 s Sheets-Sheet 1 JOHN V HAIDLER sKEMMQRWJ ATTORNEY Feb. 23, 1965 J. v. HAIDLER BOX CRUSHER AND PAPER SHREDDER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 26. 1951 JIII v, /////////////////l///// N FIG. 4 MENTOR JOHN W HAIDLER ATTORNEY Feb. 23, 1965 J. v. HAlDLER Box CRUSHER AND PAPER snasnnss 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 26, 1951 95 IO 76 o INVENT OR JOHN V HAIDLER fiw ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,170,642 BOX CRUSHER AND-PAPER SHREDDER John V. Haidler, Ann Arbor, Mich, assignor to Economy Baler Co., Ann Arbor, Mich. Filed Sept. 26, 1961, Ser. No. 140,385 13 (Ilaims. (1. 241-186) The invention pertains to apparatus for shredding paper and the like and is directed to power driven shredders having means feeding the material to be shredded into the shredding chamber of the apparatus.

In the scrap or salvage business the material being salvaged is usually bound in bundles or bales for purposes of transportation. Scrap paper, cardboard, and similar material, is normally baled for purposes of transportation and handling. The baling of paper and cardboard is usually accomplished in large baling presses wherein the paper is compressed and bound with wire or straps passing about the exterior of the bale.

For purposes of economy and efliciency it is important that the paper bale be of as high a density as possible in that the space available on trucks and railroad cars is expensive and limited. Thus, premium prices and commercial advantages are available to the dealer handling high density paper bales. To produce a high density bale, it is necessary that the paper and cardboard therein be in such a form as to be easily compacted without the formation of voids and be easily distributed within the baling press prior to compression. To this end shredding machines are often employed to render the scrap paper and cardboard into small pieces prior to baling.

Using presently available equipment, the production of a high density bale of cardboard, such as employed in the formation of cardboard boxes, is very difiicult in that the stiff and bulky characteristics of the cardboard are not conducive to baling. While cardboard boxes are collapsed in the baling press, many voids result from the folding of the cardboard, and a low density bale usually results.

It is an object of the invention to provide a shredding machine which is particularly useful in the shredding of paper, cardboard, and the like, wherein unique shredding apparatus is employed for producing a superior shredding action, and feed means are employed for feeding the paper into the shredding apparatus.

A further'object of the invention is to provide a paper shredding machine wherein conveyor means transport the paper to the shredding apparatus and the conveying means crushes paper boxes and other bulky items of large dimension to facilitate shredding yet the novel structural arrangement permits the entire apparatus to be relatively concise in dimension.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paper shredding machine employing rotating shredder blades and stationary shearing members wherein the configura: tion of the shearing members provides a superior shredding action and abutment means are employed for buckling portions of unshredded paper entering the shredding chamber so as to increase the efiiciency of the shred ding operation and to render the shredded material into smaller parts than would normally be possible without the abutment means.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a paper shredding apparatus employing a shredding chamber and, conveying means for feeding the unshredded paper to the chamber wherein the speed of the conveying means may be regulated independently of the rotating blades accomplishing the shredding.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paper shredding machine in accord with the above objects which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, durable and of high strength, and may be portable for association with the loading inlet of conventional paper baling presses.

These and other objects of the invention arising from the details of the components and relationships of an embodiment thereof will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front and side of a paper shredder in accord with the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the opposite side and the rear of the paper shredder of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 isan elevational, sectional, View through the shredder chamber taken along section III-III of FIG. 4,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken through the shredder chamber along section IVIV of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view through the shredder chamber taken along section V-V of FIG. 3,

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detailed view of an abutment taken along section VIVI of FIG. 3, and

PEG. 7 is an enlarged detailed view of a shredder blade and the plates affixing the shredder blade to the shredder blade shaft.

The general exterior appearance of a paper shredder in accord with the invention will be best appreciated from the front perspective view of FIG. 1 and the rear per spective view of FIG. 2. The machine consists basically of a frame 10 of substantially rectangular configuration which may be welded or otherwise fabricated from channel, box and angle iron. Preferably, the frame is mounted upon heavy duty wheels or casters 12 whereby the machine may be readily moved about, if desired. Of course, the machine may also be in the form of a permanent installation wherein the frame is directly bolted to a supporting floor.

The superstructure of the frame includes a pair of vertical extending spaced parallel side walls 14 suitably reinforced by channel members 16 and a plate 18 extends across the top of sides 14 whereby a housing is defined.

The front portion of the housing encloses the transporting or feed means which include a lower conveyor belt 26 and an upper conveyor belt 22. The conveyor belts 2tl and 22 are mounted upon front rollers 24 and rear rollers 26 suitably journaled in supporting members 28 and the side walls 14, respectively. The front rollers 24 are provided with adjusting mechanism 30 for translating the front rollers relative to the supporting members 28 to adjust the belts tension. A lower belt plate 32 is fixedly mounted below the upper surface of the lower belt 2%) to firmly support the conveying or transporting surface 34 to the lower belt. Likewise, the upper belt 22 is provided with a belt plate 36 also extending substantially the length and width of the belt to provide the upper conveyor belt with a transporting and rigidly supported upper surface 38.

A motor 40 is mounted upon the top plate 42 of the shredding chamber and through a conventional variable speed drive is in driving connection with the shafts 44 and 46 mounting the upper and lower conveying rollers 26.

The conveyor belt drive motor 40 is preferably provided with a quick acting brake 48 whereby the motor and conveyor belts may be quickly stopped in case of emergency.- The conveyor belt motor is preferably operated by a dead man switch, not shown, mounted upon the frame adjacent the entrance end of the passage defined by the conveyor belt and controlled by foot pedal 50. The conveyor belt motor switch is adapted to be closed by the operator during loading and operation of the machine, and upon taking his foot from the foot pedal 50 the conveyor belts will immediately stop movement.

As will be appreciated from the drawings, the upper conveyor belt is angularly inclined with respect to the substantially horizontal lower conveyor belt. Together sage for the paper being fed to the shredder compartment.

The angular-relationship of theupper conveyor belt surface 38 provides a maximum height at the entrance of a the belt passage and'a minimumheight at the passage exit,

e.g. intermediate the rollers 26. ;Thus, paper and cardboard boxes of considerable size may be placed between the conveyor belts in an uncollapsed position and the boxes will be'com pressed by the conveyor belts and forced into the shredding compartment in a crushed condition.

The shredding compartmentSZ is located at the rear end of the apparatus and is defined on the sides by the side members 54, substantially coplanar with the sides 14. The lower frame mounted plate 55 partially defines the lower part of the shredding chamber and the rear upper portion of. the chamber is defined by plates 58 and 60, FIGS. 2 and 3. As mentioned above, the plate 42 defines the upper wall of the chamber uPQn which the conveyor belt and shredder motors are mounted.

The lower rear portion of the chamber 52 is provided with an outlet defined by plate .62 and an angle member 64 extending the widthof the chamber. As best appreciated from FIG. 2, the angle 64 and plate 62 diverge to provide an outlet of substantially large configuration, and it is intended that the apparatus may be employed to directly load a scrap paper baler by placing the outlet in the baling press loading door. a

The shredding chamber inlet is definedby the opening between the rear rollers 26 of the upper and lower conveyor belts, and it will therefore be appreciated that the exit of the feeding passageway substantially constitutes the inlet of the shredding chamber.

The shredder blade mounting shaft 66 is transversely disposed across the shredding chamber and is journaled in the side walls 54 of the chamber by bearings 68, FIG. 4.

The shaft is provided with a pulley 70 at one end exterior of the shredding chamber for belt driven connection with the shredder drive motor 72 mounted on plate 42.

The shredder blades 74 preferably are of a hooked configuration having a point at the outer end, and are attached to the shaft 66 by means of a pair of spaced,

parallel, plates76, welded to the shaft, having bolt holes therein for receiving bolts 7 8 which extend through similarly spaced holes in the blade. Tightening of the bolts 78 firmly affixes-the blades to the mounting plates '76, and

'removal of the bolts permits the blades to be easily replaced. I

A plurality of fixed shear plates or members are mounted upon the lower plate 56 of the shredding chamber and consist of two configurations. Half of the plates are of a shorter horizontal length thanthe' plates 39. The plates 35? and 86 are related to the blades 74 as to intermesh' therewith, one blade intermeshing between each adjacent pair of shear plates.

Paper abutment means are mounted on the rear wall of the chamber, and in the illustrated embodiment, are

attached to the angle 64-, constituting a portion of the outlet. The abutment means 92, in the illustrated embodiment, is formed of an angle iron 94 extending the width of the chamber having a surface portion96 transversely disposed to the longitudinal axis of the passage defined by the conveyor belts and a portionf98 substantially perpendicular related to the portion as. The portion 98 extends somewhat radially with respect to the shaft 66. The angle iron 94 constituting the .abutment means is notchedat 104) to define a plurality of openings through which the blades 74 may pass. It'will be appreciated that the portion 98 is disposed relative. to the portion 96 in the direction of. blade rotation, asindicated by'the arrow in FIG. 3.

The portions 8are reinforced by webs 102 welded to the portions 96 and 98, FIG. 3,'and webs 102 are aligned with the opposed shear plate 8% or 8%. Thus, thewebs will reinforce the portions 98 against bending in an upward direction due to forces imposed thereon during operation of the apparatus.

A baffle 1G4 is located withinthe chamber extending the width thereof to prevent particles of the shredded paper from being thrown onto, the upper belt 22.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

After the operator has started the motor 72 to cause the blade shaft 66 to rotate,he will take a position at the front of the'rnachine wherein the foot pedal may be depressed to start the, conveyor belt motor for driving the belts. Paper, uncollapsed paper and cardboard boxes, books, magazines, etc. may then be thrown onto the lower conveyor beit 20. These articlesare thus fed into the shredding chamber 52 and shredded by the rapidly rotating blades 74 passing between the shear plates 80 and 86 and the abutment portions 98. The majority of the paper will be shredded between the blades and the plates '80 and 86, and the direction of rotation of the, blades'will tend to forcibly throw the shreddedimateri'al v through the outlet. Much of the shredded material will the configuration shown by plate 30, FIG. 3, having a front upper paper engaging surface 82 disposed in a substantially horizontal direction and a second surface portion 84 inclined upwardly and toward the rear of the chamber. The remaining half of the shear plates are as illustrated in FIG. 3 and designated by reference 86, and

include an upper front paper engaging surface portion 88,

also be thrown againstthe abutmentmeans 92and the surface 98 of the abutment means and will rebound into the blade path as it moves in an upward direction, causing further shreddingt'o occur. Also, the portions 98 will tend to direct the shredded material intothe outlet due to the proximity of these. portions to the outlet.

Uncollapsed boxes will" be crushed by the conveyor belts, and as the larger boxes are crushed and fed be- I the shredding chamber due toqthe' blade action, by the conveyor belts. The speed with which the box is fed into the shredded'chamber is largely determined by the .speed of the conveyor belt and optimum shredding may be accomplished. I

The configuration of, the plates and 86 and abutment member 92 is particularly effective in the shredding of large cardboard and heavy paper sheets. By staggering the vertical height of the adjacent plates 80 and 86, these surfaces will cause the large paper sheets to be unevenly supported as they are engaged by the shredder blades tending to crinkle and fold the unevenly supported paper enabling the blades to strike ,thepaper at different locations'during eachrevolution and,-thus,- shred the paper into more minute particles. It sometimes occurs that in the feeding of large paper sheets into the machine that that portion of the paper directly passing over the, shear plates will not be at allstrucltby the saidinlet opening;

blade as it passes through the notchesltlt). Such action,

of course, will cause the strips to be thoroughly shredded and utlimately thrown from the chamber outlet.

It will be noted from FIG. 3 that the extreme rearward ends of the plates 80 and 86 are closely positioned to the forward end of portion 98 and, thus, it is unlikely that-relatively large paper pieces can be thrown out of the outlet without being directly engaged by a blade.

The shredding machine in accord with the invention is very effective in minutely shredding all weights of paper and cardboard, yet is not easily clogged or overloaded.

It is appreciated that other embodiments of the inventive concept may be apparent to those skilled in the art than those illustrated, and it is intended that the invention be defined only by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A paper shredder comprising, in combination, a frame, first and second endless conveyor belts operatively mounted on said frame defining transport surfaces, said belts being in spaced, opposed, angularly related relationship whereby the transport surfaces thereof define a passage having an entrance of maximum height and an exit of minimum height, a shaft rotatably journaled on said frame adjacent to said passage exit defined by said conveyor belts, shredder'members affixed to said shaft.

and radially projecting'therefrom, spaced shear members fixed to said frame intermeshing with said shredder members, paper abutment means fixed to said frame in'opposed relation to said passage exit inte'rmeshing with said shredder members, drive means operatively associated with said belts and shaft and a shredded paper outletdefined on said frame adjacent said abutment means. I

2. A paper shredder comprising, in combination, a frame, a shredder. chamber defined on said frame having inlet and outlet openings,-first and second endless belts operatively mounted on said frame definingtransport surlated relationship whereby the transport surfaces thereof define a passage having an entrance of maximum height and an exit of minimum height, said passage exit constitut ing the inlet openingofsaid chamber, a shaft ro'- tatably mounted on said frame extending across said a chamber ina directiontransversely disposed to said passage, shredder blades affixed to said shaft and radially extending therefrom; drive means operatively associated faces, said belts being inspaced, opposed, angularly re- I 6 ings defined therein, said inlet opening being defined in a horizontal side of said chamber and said outlet opening being disposed below said inlet opening and in substantially opposed relation to said outlet opening, a horizontal shaft extending through said chamber, means rotating said shaft, shredder blades radially extending from said shaft, shear members mounted on said frame within said chamber adjacent said inlet extending toward said outlet intermeshing with the path of movement of said blades, a plurality of paper abutment means in spaced relation within said chamber in opposed relation to said inlet opening'intermeshing with said blades and adjacent said outlet opening'and paper feeding means mounted upon said frame having a discharge location at said inlet open- 6. In a paper shredding machine as in claim 5, wherein said shear members include upper paper supporting surfaces, the surface portions nearest said abutment means extending toward said abutment means and terminating short thereof.

7. In a'paper shredding machine as in claim 5, wherein said shear member surfaces include first and second portions, said first portions being adjacent said inlet and disposed substantially parallel to the direction of paper movement into said chamber and said second portions constituting said surface portions nearest said abutment means. I a i 8. In a paper shredding machine as in claim 5, wherein said abutment members including a first surface. 'trans versely disposed to the direction offeedingof the paper into said chamber and a second surface substantially extending in the direction of feeding of the paper, said second. surface being positioned relative to said first surface in the direction of shredder blade movement. I

9. A paper shredding apparatus comprising, in combination, a frame, a shredding chamber defined on said frame having an inlet opening defined therein and an outlet opening in substantially opposed relation to said inlet opening, a shaft rotatably mounted in said chamber, drive means operatively associated with said shaft, shredder blades radially extending from said shaft and axially spaced thereon, spacedshearplates having a paper supporting upper surface mounted within said chamber inter- I meshing with said blades and located adjacent said inlet, paper abutment means mounted Within said chamber in opposed relation to said inlet inter'meshing with said blades 7 adapted to abut with and buckle paper inserted into said with said belts and shaft, spaced shear members mounted on saidframeintermeshing with. the pathof travel. of said blades adjacent the inlet of said chamber, and paper abutment means mounted within said chamber intermeshing with said blades, said abutmentmeans being located adjacent said outlet openingand in opposed relation to 3. In-a paper shredder as in claim 2, wherein said shear members include paper supporting surfaces substantially transversely disposed to the path of movement of said shredder blades, the said surfaces of adjacent shear members being staggered with respect to the'direction of movement of the shredder blades.

4. In a paper shredder'as-in claim 2, wherein said shear members include paper supporting surfaces, said paper "supporting surfaces having a first portion adjacent said chamber inlet disposed substantially parallel to the ,direcl tion of movement of paper transported into said chamber a by said belts and a second portion nearest said chamber outlet directed toward saidi'abutment means. I

- 5. A paper shredding machine comprising, in combina-.

chamber through said inlet. 7

10. In a paper shredding apparatus as in claim 9, wherein said abutment means are insubstantial alignment with a said shear plate paper supporting surfaces.

11. Ina paper shredding machine as incla'im 9, wherein saidpa'per abutment means include a first surface sub stantially facing saidinlet and a second surfacesubstan- ,tially perpendicular to said first surface and positioned relative to said first surface in the direction of shredder blade movement.

.12., In a paper shredding machine as in-c1aim 11,wherein paper feedingmeans are mounted on said frame and operatively associated with said chamber inlet opening for feeding paper into said chamber and drive means mount- 4 ;ed on said frame operatively associated with said feedtion, a substantially horizontal frame, a shredding chamx her defined said chamber having inlet and outlet opening means.

13'. In a paper shredding machine as in claim 11, wherein the paper supporting surfaces of adjacent shear plates are located-atditferent positions within the path of movement of said shredder blades.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES- PATENTS France June 29, '1959 

9. A PAPER SHREDDING APPARATUS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A FRAME, A SHREDDING CHAMBER DEFINED ON SAID FRAME HAVING AN INLET OPENING DEFINED THEREIN AND AN OUTLET OPENING IN SUBSTANTIALLY OPPOSED RELATION TO SAID INLET OPENING, A SHAFT ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID CHAMBER, DRIVE MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID SHAFT, SHREDDER BLADES RADIALLY EXTENDING FROM SAID SHAFT AND AXIALLY SPACED THEREON, SPACED SHEAR PLATES HAVING A PAPER SUPPORTING UPPER SURFACE MOUNTED WITHIN SAID CHAMBER INTERMESHING WITH SAID BLADES AND LOCATED ADJACENT SAID INLET, PAPER ABUTMENT MEANS MOUNTED WITHIN SAID CHAMBER IN OPPOSED RELATION TO SAID INLET INTERMESHING WITH SAID BLADES ADAPTED TO ABUT WITH SAID BUCKLE PAPER INSERTED INTO SAID CHAMBER THROUGH SAID INLET. 